COMMENTARY: For Hamlin, This One Feels Different

Denny Hamlin remembers.

He remembers the seasons when he entered the NASCAR playoffs as a top bet for the title, only to have bad luck, twists of fate and frequent lacks of focus send the championship trophy home in the hands of others.

He remembers the 2010 debacle at ISM Raceway in Phoenix where botched pit strategy cost him an almost-certain trip to Victory Lane and most of a 60-point championship edge over Jimmie Johnson.

He remembers a stunning early crash in the 2010 season finale at Homestead Miami Speedway that ended his championship hopes and handed a historic fifth-consecutive title to Johnson.

Those failures loomed like thunderclouds on the horizon Sunday; less than a week after a stunning, solo spin at Texas Motor Speedway dropped the Joe Gibbs Racing driver from a relatively secure 20 points above the playoff cutline to 24 points below, setting the stage for another potential playoff collapse. The signs were all there; another “here we go again” opportunity for Hamlin to let victory slip through his fingers when it matters most.

This time, though, it was different.

This time, the Virginia native exorcised the demons of seasons past with a championship-qualifying win in the Bluegreen Vacations 500 at ISM Raceway in Phoenix.

Despite a late-race caution caused by John Hunter Nemechek’s bout with the Turn Four wall that set up a three-lap dash for all the marbles.

Despite a decision by crew chief Chris Gabehart to take just two tires on a decisive final pit stop, leaving Hamlin in the crosshairs of teammates Kyle Busch and Truex, both of whom had bolted on four fresh Goodyear Eagles.

Despite a desperation attempt by Ryan Blaney to snatch the lead away and steal Hamlin’s ticket to Ford Championship Weekend.

This time around, there was no disappointment. No excuses, no “what ifs,” no “what might have been.”

Just an opportunity to finally remove his name from the list of Greatest NASCAR Drivers Never to Win a Championship.

“I can't believe it,” said a stunned Hamlin in the aftermath of his sixth win of the 2019 campaign and the 37th of his career. “This race team worked so hard this whole year. They deserve to be there.  I put them in a bad hole last week. I told them today in the meeting, ‘I'm going to give everything I've got to make up for the mistake I made last week.’ That's all I got.”

The Fed Ex Toyota driver led a race-high 143 laps Sunday, surrendering the lead only once in the final 146 circuits; then only during a run of green-flag pit stops. He built a lead of more than 12 seconds at one juncture, wheeling what he called “one of the best cars of my career” through a minefield of lapped traffic without so much as a momentary glitch.

On the final restart, with former champions Truex and Busch set to relegate him to the “close, but no cigar” column yet again, Hamlin was perfect, stiff-arming the competition and pulling away by .377 seconds down the stretch, leaving Busch to wonder aloud how two tires could perform so much better than four.

With the win, Hamlin joins JGR teammates Truex and Busch in Sunday’s title tiff, along with Stewart-Haas Racing’s Kevin Harvick. There is no clear favorite for this year’s title, but Hamlin and Gabehart seem to have everything its takes – including the proper mental outlook – to finally grab NASCAR’s brass ring.

"I've been through so many playoffs,” said Hamlin in Victory Lane. “So many things that went wrong. This year, I'm waiting for the right next thing to happen. I can't thank this team enough. I don't have words yet. I'm going to have to do a little bit more donuts… then go to Homestead."

Everyone talks confidently at this time of year. Everyone likes their team and their chances. Hamlin has said all the right things before, only to come up empty when the chips were down.

This time around, though, things feel different.

The Chesterfield, Virginia native seems more confident, more focused and more confident in a crew chief who has helped him exorcise his demons; a man whose confidence level is so high that he chastised his driver via e-mail last week for saying that their season would still be a success, even without a championship.

With 37 MENCS victories in his column, it’s time for Hamlin to take the final step in his career; the step from “winner” to “champion.”

And this time around, he seems ready to do exactly that.